Bistritza - Aleko 2026

This Friday husband and I decided to repeat a hike we did last year, from the village of Bistritza to Aleko hut and back along an alternative trail. Last year we came upon raspberry shrubs, heavy with ripe fruit and ended picking up some raspberries for a few jars of home-made jam. The raspberry harvest then was accidental, this time we were prepared - but others had beat us to the berries.

The path from Bistritza to Aleko, following the Bistritza River, climbs gradually from the village into the dense forests of Vitosha.

The route is scenic and shady, with several wooden bridges and resting spots as you make the steady gain in elevation up toward the high mountain area.

Hike info:

Date:  21 August 2026

Destination: Aleko Hut, round trail

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 17 km

Elevation gain: 790 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 8 hours, with raspberry picking

Average difficulty: 6 / 10 

Although the raspberry shrubs had been heavily trodden upon and picked before us, we spent almost three hours slowly climbing, eating and gathering ripe berries, with a short power snack rest in between. 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxer shorts, Burda cargo pants

I: lingerie, Burda color jeans, Shkatulka top

Finally, almost five hours later, we were near Aleko hut.

We decided to pass by Aleko hut and have our lunch slightly above. We've stopped by the hut many times, but on such a hot and sunny day we preferred to find a shade in the trees, with a clear panoramic view to Sofia value, so we climbed up a bit along the "Wall" and had our tortillas and well deserved beers (it was 15:00 o'clock already) on a nice spot with a deep shadow, cast by a big pine tree.

A stone monument of Pavel Romanski, a young pioneer skier who tragically perished in a blizzard on Vitosha in 1931. Sculpted by Ivan Funev, the full-length statue of Romanski, holding his skis, served as an impetus for the creation of Bulgaria’s Mountain Rescue Service. 

We descended along the trail by the Yanchovska River, which is a peaceful alternative back to the village, passing near the edge of the Bistrishko Branishte biosphere reserve.

The trail winds through deep coniferous and beech woods alongside the rushing stream and under the soft light of the late afternoon sun I think I liked it even better than the more popular Bistritza river trail.

The trail leads back to the lower outskirts of Bistritza and connects with the low altitude Vitosha circuit. The final stretch of the hike was along the level track between Bistritza and Simeonovo - such a relief for the tired legs. 

And the sweet reward for our efforts - a dozen of jars of heavenly aromatic raspberry jam and what could go better with my Duolingo lessons this morning, but coffee and pancake with raspberry jam.

From Aleko to Cherni vruh to Zlatnite, 2026

Yesterday we did a new for us hike, that involved driving by our car and riding on three different buses, so that we could start the hike from one point in the mountain and end it on the other side of the mountain. We've done every part of the hike many times, returning to the starting point, combining the two was the trick.

The idea for this hike had been brewing in my mind for a long time, but the logistics of the transportation stopped me from getting anywhere with it. I use Gemini (and other AI models) a lot, so I asked it to make me a plan for the optimal transportation. I checked its suggestions with the available bus schedules and Google street maps and it turned out doable and tolerable, so we decided to do it.

We drove to the foot of Dragalevtzi, left the car there (the only tricky part - to find a free parking spot, we lucked out). Then we took the bus to Aleko and started on our adventure towards Cherni vruh along the so called King's road.

The first part of our hike was a repetition of the start of the hike we had with Vali exactly a month ago. Unlike then, however, and despite the clear skies, the weather on the peak was cold and the wind was strong and freezing.

Hike info:

Date: 26 July 2026

Destination: Cherni Vruh (2290 m)

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 16 km

Elevation gain: 500 m  - Elevation lost: 910 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 4.5 / 10 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda hoodie

I: lingerie, Burda raglan blouse, Burda color jeans

We found some shelter among the rocks on the western part of the peak, where we enjoyed our tortillas, beers and home-made muffins, but we didn't linger long. My lips were getting blue, fingers losing sensitivity and in the end I was starting to tremble - it was time to move.

We took the trail down to Samara Shelter and decided to make a detour and climb peak Samara - one of the "Vitosha's dozen" - peaks above 2000 m, which we climbed a couple of years ago for the first time.

Once we got on peak Samara, we realized what a big mistake we had made with our lunch place - only a few hundred meters lower than Cherni vruh, the temperatures were tolerable, the wind much milder and the peak would have been a perfect lunch stop - next time we'll know!

The view from Samara towards the Pernik valley.

The trail through the plateau is one my favourites and the main reason I wanted this hike so much - the vastness of the almost level ground, surrounded by high peaks on all sides is really impressive.

The trail lead us to Konyarnika - another of my favourite spots on Vitosha, which we hiked at the end of June.

And back to Zlatnite mostove. Here we took another bus to the Ring road, and from there a third bus back to our car. Although the logistics sounds complicated, on weekends the buses to Vitosha are quite regular and the trip was surprisingly comfortable and smooth - I even managed to read a few chapters on my Kindle while riding the bus, so win win. We'll definitely plan a similar hike or repeat this one some time in the future.

Cherni Vruh with Vali, 2026

Gaby and her boyfriend visited us last week and we did some travelling and hiking together. On the first day of their stay, Gaby had some uni reunion, while the remaining three of us went on a hike on Vitosha along one of our most favourite circular trails - from Aleko, along the "King's road" to Cherni vruh and from there down to the high altitude circuit back to Aleko hut.

Though it was forecast fairly hot and sunny in the city, the mountain has its own climate and the hike started a bit chilly and cloudy, which made the climb very pleasant.

Hike info:

Date: 28 June 2026

Destination: Cherni Vruh (2290 m)

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 16 km

Elevation gain: 500 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 5 hours

Average difficulty: 4.5 / 10 

We had our tortillas, cold beer and homemade muffins on the peak and from then on we continued east towards peak Skoparnika.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants

I: lingerie, Burda raglan blouse, Burda color jeans

The mountain was probably at its best, green and full of flowers, some of which are emblematic for the region - mountain lily, yellow globe flower, wild orchids and many others, an impressive wild garden.

Probably my favourite - the emblem of Vitosha, the yellow globe flower.

Though fairly long - 16 km, the trail is very pleasant and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Another marker on the way - the crooked pine.

And back to Aleko hut.